I don't claim to understand all the finances of a deal like Searchlight, but one thing is obvious - the combined salaries to the BOD and the payments to Charles Ager (the "consultant") add up to a huge amount of money. Nice gig - be on a BOD, do nothing, and pull in $100K or $150K a year, year after year. That's the motivation, in my opinion. Gravy train that keeps on giving......
Yes, the permit side is important, but as I said, not until they start actually processing, which in my opinion is never.
The drill holes are probably still there, if they were even drilled at all. No report was ever issued, no real evidence that any hole was drilled.
The problem is that this is private property - you cannot just amble over there, and grab a sample of the slag or check for drill holes. That is the key factor that has kept this scheme going for so long. If this were BLM or State land, an investor or nosy skeptic could go grab a sample or two. Even jumping the fence and sampling would be a mistake - you would be admitting to trespass if you publicized your results. So, a nifty way of keeping a lid on actual slag sample results.
The samples reportedly collected during the drilling process are certainly long-gone. Assay labs only hang onto them for a little while, then start charging a monthly fee for storage. I am sure they are not available, and even if they were, why would SRCH allow anybody to re-assay them?
The key here is the complete and absolute lack of any reports. Zero. Nada. If a person were to invest hard-earned money in this, wouldn't that be a red flag if no reports were provided for review?
Bre-X? Not quite the same scale, but this would still make a nice book or movie someday.
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